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From The Archive | Episode 11: This One's B.I.G. (Best International Ground)
From The Archive | Episode 11: This One's B.I.G. (Best International Ground)
As we celebrate 25 Years of The Bowl, we uncover the stories behind the venue’s journey.
Written by
Dave Allen
Hampshire Cricket Heritage
John Winter
Hampshire Cricket Heritage
2010: This One's B.I.G. (Best International Ground)
Quiz Question: Who were the three batsmen out in the middle when Hampshire won their first T20 Title, off the last ball of the Final, at the Rose Bowl in 2010?
After more than 30 years, the first-class counties reverted to just three competitions and the two original limited-overs competitions were ‘merged’ into the CB40 with three leagues, followed by semi-finals and a Lord’s Final, held on a Saturday evening – which was generally unpopular.
Michael Carberry made his Test debut v Bangladesh, scoring 30 and 34 and England won by 181 runs. Mascarenhas was appointed captain again, but he was injured in the IPL pre-season and replaced variously by Pothas and Cork. There was a selection of players from overseas including H Herath, P Hughes, N McKenzie, D Christian, and Abdul Razzaq. Cork was captain in the T20, which Hampshire won for first time with Finals Day at the Rose Bowl. The weather was not good, but Hampshire beat Essex in the semi-final by six wickets and met Somerset in the Final after Duckworth/Lewis calculations had resolved their match v Nottinghamshire. Somerset posted 173-6 (Cork 2-24) with their big hitter Pollard forced to retire hurt. Hampshire replied well and looked to be winning until two late wickets including McKenzie (52). Christian injured himself and required a runner for the last ball with Hampshire needing one to level the scores and take the cup. The runner, the non-striker and Christian all set off, Somerset fielded but failed to spot Christian’s indiscretion, he got home, and Hampshire had won. Briggs’ 31 wickets was a record in one T20 season for Hampshire.
Hampshire struggled in the Championship. Adams and Carberry passed 1,000 runs with McKenzie, Ervine and Vince all performing well although Lumb was injured for much of the season. Tomlinson (46) and Cork (45) led the bowlers although with little support – Kabir Ali arrived from Worcestershire but was often unfit and played in only four matches. Another Test bowler, Simon Jones came on a match contract, seeking fitness. He played in six T20 matches and one each in the CB40 and the Championship.
Batting at number seven, Sean Ervine’s 237* v Somerset at the Rose Bowl was the highest ever score by a Hampshire batsman in the lower half of the batting order. Adams set a record of over 2,500 runs in the three competitions for the season. Late in the season, at Scarborough, he and 19-year-old Vince added a new fourth wicket partnership record of 278, both falling just short of double hundreds. In the following match, Adams scored 194 from 508 balls in 635 minutes – both calculated as county records – in a vain attempt to stave off defeat at Liverpool. No one else reached 50 for Hampshire in either innings.
Hampshire’s next and penultimate match was a ‘relegation-decider’ at Canterbury, and they were bowled out for 204 of which Adams made 84. However, Tomlinson’s 4-59 helped them take a lead of 22 and four half-centuries allowed Hampshire to declare at 355-9. Kent lost wickets regularly, Cork and Briggs took four each and a fine catch by Adams sealed the victory and another year in Division One.
In May, Michael Lumb and Kevin Pietersen, then both of Hampshire, played for England when they won the T20 World Cup in Barbados. However, Pietersen found travelling from his London home to Hampshire too demanding and he moved to Surrey before the end of the season. In six seasons with Hampshire, he played in seven first-class matches, with three centuries and 17 ‘List A’ matches (HS 98), averaging around 43 in each competition.
The Rose Bowl was voted the Best International Ground in an ECB survey of fans. Bournemouth won the Southern Electric Premier League, with Hampshire Academy runners-up for the second time.
Quiz answer: Dan Christian was on strike. Jimmy Adams was his runner. Sean Ervine was backing up at the non-striker’s end.
